Avert your eyes if spiders bother you...
You have been warned...
Saw this lady (the females are always the larger, more colorful of the species), building a web near the mower shed. I just had to get a closeup picture...
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| Banana Spider |
Definitely intimidating!
She is called a Banana Spider, also known as a Golden Orb Spider. While I did not put my hand TOO close, she is about the size of my palm. I didn't show it in person to 2nd Man, instead I showed him the pictures. He looked and went "what the hell? It's like we live in the rain forest!!"
We don't mind sharing the property with her and as scary as they look, they are not poisonous. A bite can cause irritation and pain like a bee sting, but it only lasts a day or two. In rare cases it can cause an allergic reaction but for the most part, it's not terribly aggressive. The upside is that they do catch and kill fruit flies and other bugs.
What about you?
Do spiders creep you out or do you (perhaps reluctantly?) share your lives with them?
i like spiders. this one is a beauty!
ReplyDeleteThey are beautiful aren't they?
DeleteNormally spiders don't spook me but one the size of the palm of my hand just might tip the scales.
ReplyDeleteHa, they are large and yes, it is intimating to see one that big.
DeleteI love those. We call them garden spiders. They won't be out here for a few more months, then I'll see the baby ones (about 1/2 inch) on their little webs. They really are the farmer's friend. If you look on the right of the sidebar of pictures on my blog, you'll see pics of mine. On the other hand, I do not like the big brown wolf spiders that get in my house. I once saw one reared up on its legs fighting with a scorpion on the floor beside my bed! I nearly died. That's why I told you to set off bug bombs in your house.
ReplyDeleteI think I've heard that name as well. I will look for the pics, thanks!! I googled wolf spider, holy carpool, that would freak me out! And fighting a scorpion, not sure I'd want to face the winner of THAT battle, ha.
DeleteI understand now, ha, thanks!!
What lovely colours. Not long after we bought this place, we went walking around the house at night with a strong torch. We didn't get far as the entire yard was criss-crossed with Orb Spiders and their huge webs. I was so grateful that we hadn't just trusted the moonlight. I'm not overly fond of spiders despite them being beneficial but it's the Funnel Webs I really don't like. Nothing pleasant about gardening and finding one having a bite on the back of your hand! I was lucky though, it bit without passing any venom. It took a long time before I was able to garden with any sort of confidence.
ReplyDeleteVery pretty (as pretty as spiders can be I suppose). You got a bite? Yikes!! Definitely very scary, some bites can be bad. I don't blame you at all.
DeleteI love garden spiders. I had a golden orb weave a web outside my kitchen window. I loved washing dishes and watching her. I took a few photos of her too. I agree with Donna, I don't like wolf spiders in the house at all. I'm not fond of any spiders in the house.
ReplyDeleteWhat a neat thing to have outside your window. You can watch the progress regularly! Those wolf spiders would freak me out, I don't think we have those here.
DeleteI am fascinated by spiders. My partner is terrified of them, and believes that they are all ninja assassins. The irony? I have been fanged by a spider (which attacked me at my most vulnerable in the shower). He has never been harmed by a spider.
ReplyDeleteNinja assassins, ha!!!! And in the shower? Yikes!!! I hear ya though you have reason to be scared but aren't. Be safe!!
DeleteShe's a beauty, and one you can see from a distance... here it's the little ones you have to look out for. Brown recluses and black widows, that sort of thing. My daughter was bitten by a brown recluse when visiting her grandparents when she was three. Months of medications and special lotions!
ReplyDeleteStill, for the most part they are useful and inoffensive creatures so we shoo them out of the house instead of killing them.
Yes, I know about those dreaded ones, my Grandfather was bitten by a brown recluse years ago...rotted out a big section of his leg. Horrible thing to see. Scary for you to see your daughter go through I know.
DeleteThey are inoffensive though (most of them) and we do them same, i'll capture them in a cup or something and toss them outside.
I love these beautiful spiders! And they are very beneficial to gardeners. Anything that catches mosquitoes, flies, and other insect pests is my friend!
ReplyDeleteI've heard they catch mosquitoes and down these parts, that's definitely a good thing huh? Maybe that's the reason for the other name garden spiders. Cool!!
DeleteVery pretty indeed. We have them here as well & the one thing I hate most of all is not watching where I'm going while traversing the woods & walk smack dab right into one. Girl screaming & arms flailing scary.
ReplyDeleteLOL girl screaming scary, I think we could also have man screaming scary too, ha.
DeleteWhen I am on the mower and ride under a tree without thinking I invariably hit a web...freaks me out too, ha.
The size of your PALM? Good heavens! My garage has plenty of webs, but I've never seen a spider in my house. I've been here 5 1/2 years. Maybe the lizards eat the spiders before they can get from the detached garage to the house.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janie
Lucky for you! now these bigs ones don't get in but small 'house spiders' appear on occasion. Be safe!!
DeleteI appreciate spiders.
ReplyDeleteThis is particular lady we protect around here. She is a wonderful pest eater and all these years I know of no bites. If you get close to her web, she will swing the web to frighten you away.
It is sad at the end of the season, she lays her eggs and leaves her young ones to hatch in spring.
I like the idea that they swing the web, isn't that kind of cool how nature works? I will watch for babies this Spring!
DeleteNear me, I am screaming or trying to get away. At a distance, well, just stay. When the garden spider built a web that covered my door as I tried to leave the house, I ripped it down unknowingly. Then, I ws wrapped in it.
ReplyDeleteThe other day, I saw one of the wolf spiders. The giant roach baits are good for spiders. I see them putting a leg into the poison.
Spiders that live behind the microwave are safe from me. They get the fruit flies, and for that I am grateful.
It's creepy to get wrapped up in a web isn't it? Dang, more wolf spiders, I'm SO glad we don't have those here (that I KNOW of, ha). Thanks for the advice, I will remember that!!
DeleteWHat a beautiful imagine you captured! I don't like spiders but the photo is gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteAw, thanks! It was a great picture and I could zoom in and get tons of detail. It was fun to take the pics, I could zoom in from a safe distance, ha.
DeleteIncredible photos! Are you sure they only catch bugs? What happens if a small chick or frog get too close? lol I love 2nd Man's comment. Y'all do grow it big and intimidating down there!
ReplyDeleteThank you!! I'm not sure about a small chick, ha. The webs though are usually pretty high up so I think small creatures are safe, ha. Everything's bigger in Texas! LOL!
Deletei'll be honest i would have screamed....got my phone..posted about it, facebooked it, googled it and then tried to kill it. It would have escaped since I would throw something at it from 10ft away and I would decide to never walk in the area i found it in again...LOL
ReplyDeleteOK now that post made me laugh out loud. Thank you!!!! :-)
DeleteI don't mind these spiders in the least, but it's walking into cobwebs that freak me out.
ReplyDeleteMy grandsons would catch grasshoppers and toss them into the web just to see the spider enclosing the hopper to save and eat for later.
Hey, great use for pesky grasshoppers in the garden huh? I'll have to watch for that. Thanks!!!
DeleteI hate spiders, especially the wolf spider we have around here! We had one of the garden spiders in a raspberry patch years ago. I called all the kids over to look at her and watch her. I try to educate them so they don't have the irrational fears I have. It's a little harder to do with snakes, though.
ReplyDeleteI hear ya on snakes....even the small ones freak me out. The spider I can get pretty close to and look at but snakes, meh, not so much!
DeleteAnd here I am always late...
ReplyDeleteI don't have too big a problem with spiders, and let them out of the house when I find them. The problem I do have is with black widows. They come in force around my house and garden starting late spring - anywhere they can find a place to hide. Since I have three young children that enjoy playing outside, I hunt them down nightly.
Fashionably late, nothing wrong with that. :-)
DeleteIn force black widows? Yikes!!! I have only ever seen one in person, that red hourglass is chilling.
Stay safe!!!